Friday, November 9, 2012

Azariah Davis, Patriot

Last month I covered Azariah Davis (1808-1857) and his father Henry Davis (1781-1855) in Vermilion County, Illinois. Henry's father was Azariah Davis, and he was born on 12 February 1756 in Chester, Pennsylvania. He died on 22 September 1838 (or 1839) in Utica, Knox County, Ohio. Azariah is buried in the Old 6th Street Cemetery in Newark, Licking County, Ohio.

It appears that Azariah fought in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, according to the markers bearing his name in Veteran's Park in Newark and his Findagrave entry.

Photo source: Findagrave.com (see link above)

Photo source: Findagrave.com

According to information, Azariah was married twice. First, to Alice Elsie Van Meter on 1 December 1780 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He later married Mary Harrington Smith. I will write about these spouses, and children, in an upcoming post.

In the Revolutionary War, Azariah served as an ensign in the Pennsylvania Militia. By 1784, he was a Lieutenant in the Third Company of the Washington County, Pennsylvania Militia (source: Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Volume X, Page 287 on Fold3.com, see below).

Source: PA Archives, Fold3

In 1781, Azariah paid a supply tax in Washington County, Pennsylvania. There are two other Davis names on this tax record, William and Stephen Davis. Stephen should be Azariah's brother, based on other information I've seen. William was Azariah's father.

Source: PA Archives, Fold3

I'll have more on Azariah in advance of Veterans Day. There are probably
hundreds, if not thousands, of descendants of Azariah Davis, and I'm
not alone in researching him. As I write this, 94,000 hits show up on
Google for "Azariah Davis 1756". I'm going to take some time to sort
through this information, and welcome input from other descendants of
this Azariah. There are a number of Sons of the American Revolution and
Daughters of the American Revolution applications referencing Azariah
Davis, but before I repeat that information I want to try to validate
some of this with records and documents.